Lens converter Funleader has released 300 Contax G rangefinder lenses rehoused to fit Leica M cameras.
The Contax G-mount 45/2 lenses have been non-destructively converted for Leica M cameras, mounted in an entirely new helicoid housing.
Funleader said the new housing maintains the image quality the original lenses were renowned for. The Contax G1 and G2 rangefinders, made by Kyocera in Japan between 1994 and 2005, were rangefinders using autofocus lenses. The Zeiss-designed 45/2 was regarded as the cameras’ standard lens.
“In August 2019, we released the first G35 M-mount non-destructive conversion,” Funleader said on the news lenses’ listing page. “Due to the limited number of original Contax optical lens groups that we collected, we only produced 170 sets of converted lens and finally got 170 happy customers. Those enthusiastic customers gives us confidence and motivation to continue making G45 lens conversion.
(Examples of the new lens shot on a Leica)
“The optical part of this lens is still the original Contax optical lens groups that we collected on the market. It is not an optical reproduction and can fully display high resolution and beautiful colours that Contax 45mm F2 Carl Zeiss Planar T* lens should have. It is worth mentioning that we only have 300 lenses and those lenses will be delivered in batches. First come, first served.”
The news lens housing is made of brass and weighs 332g, with the original lens’s minimum focusing distance of 70cm (28in) and aperture range of f2 to 16 fully retained.
The lenses cost £867.83 ($1182/€1,023) including free shipping anywhere in the world and will be shipped in November.
I'm a New Zealander who has been living in London since the mid-1990s, shooting film seriously since the year 2000. Kosmo Foto was launched in 2012 and has since become a film brand, with the release of my first films Kosmo Foto Mono 35mm (2017) and Kosmo Foto Mono 120 (2019).
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